Electronic – Heat problems when using 5 buck/switching converters in a double isolated enclosure

enclosureheatstep-down

I want to use 5 step down converters (220 VAC -> 5V DC) inside an enclosure inside an enclosure (double isolation).

The step down converters are similar to these. There will be 5 of them, where one is connected to an RS485 transceiver (MAX1485CPA), and the other 4 have each an optocoupler (6N137) and RS485 transceiver (MAX1485CPA).

The inner enclosure is completely closed, plastic, and just big enough to contain them with about 1 cm / 0.4" space between each converter.

In the outer enclosure (also plastic) will only be XLR (DMX) connectors and max. 10 small LED lights.

Also I will use a fuse (1A?) for safety.

Questions:

  • Will heat be an issue? If so, should I make 'holes' in both enclosures for air flow?
  • As you can see I cannot screw the devices in an enclosure (no holes), so I want to glue them (upside down with the yellow flat area glued for a maximum and a flat glue area). Besides that, I'm intending to use wooden popsicle sticks to 'physically' make sure they never can touch each other (by glueing them somehow between the converters. Is there a problem or better solution (without having to buy new converters)?

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Update

After a discussion it is best to use a switching supply with enclosure already around it (being an amateur):

5V 3W mini power supply module Hi-Link HLK-PM01

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Best Answer

Small transformers are very inefficient, it's just the way that the parameters of iron and copper turn out.

You will have much smaller heat problems if you use a single power supply of 5x the current output.

Sometimes it's worth paralleling smaller devices, and sometimes it isn't. This is definitely a case where one bigger is better than many smaller.

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